Betting News Archives

September 7, 2022

Maryland opens mobile sports betting applications

The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) has officially opened applications for mobile sports betting in the state of Maryland.

The application period opened yesterday (6 September) and will end at 5pm on 21 October. The application fee for mobile licences is $500,000.

SWARC approved a number of draft regulations for mobile sports betting in July. The following month, on 26 August, the regulations were published in the Maryland Register.

Read the full story on iGB North America.

September 7, 2022

Hard Rock continues sportsbook roll-out with Indiana and Tennessee launches

The Hard Rock Digital arm of Hard Rock International has announced the launch of its online sportsbook product in Indiana and Tennessee.

Players in both states can download the Hard Rock Sportsbook mobile app and place bets on a wide range of sports and events.

Hard Rock already had a land-based sports betting presence in Indiana with its Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, where it opened a new retail sportsbook facility in May of this year.

The launch of the sportsbook in Tennessee marked Hard Rock’s entrance to the state’s gambling market, though the operator does run three Hard Rock Cafés across the state, while its new Hard Rock Bristol Casino is located over the state line in Virginia.

“We are excited to offer the legendary Hard Rock experience to our mobile sports betting players throughout Indiana and Tennessee,” Hard Rock Digital chief executive and executive managing director Marlon Goldstein said.

“The successful debut of the Mystery Wheel is the latest example of the un..

September 7, 2022

Betegy to ramp up US push following Yolo investment

Betegy has closed an investment round led by Yolo Investments – the venture capital arm of the Yolo Group, which operates the Sportsbet.io brand.

Betegy – which provides data visualisations, automated on-air and retail graphics, and casino marketing assets to operators – intends to use the funds to continue its scaling in the US. The announcement follows a previous funding round led by JKR Investment Group, which was announced in 2020.

iGB spoke to both Betegy founder and chief executive Alex Kornilov, and Yolo Investments founder and GP Tim Heath to discuss the deal and how Betegy plans to further adapt its products for the US market, and the startup funding sector as a whole.

What encouraged you to invest in the business; what do you think that Betegy brings to the market that wasn’t on offer before?

TH: Betegy’s great innovation is to automate the previously time-consuming process of turning reams of data into world-class content. We know the product works because it’s been succ..

September 7, 2022

Swifty Global launches new sports betting and igaming site

Financial and sports betting technology solutions provider Swifty Global has announced the soft launch of its new Swifty Gaming sports betting and online casino website.

Swifty Gaming will allow customers to place pre-event and in-play bets on all major sports events, as well as access more than 200 casino games.

The provider said it expects to onboard a number of premium clients following the launch, adding that the Swifty Gaming site will help generate tens of millions in additional revenue during its first year of operation.

The launch comes after Swifty recently secured new gambling licences in both the UK and Curacao, allowing it to roll out a sports predictions app in the UK and a global digital wallet offering artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency and blockchain transactions.

In addition, Swifty in June announced it had agreed a deal to acquire UK online gambling operator Goldchip Limited. Goldchip has a portfolio of nearly 750 high net worth VIP clients including a num..

September 6, 2022

Arizona betting handle declines again in June

The Arizona Department of Gaming reported a further drop in the state’s sports wagering handle in June, with player spending falling 30.9% month-on-month.

Consumers wagered a total of $318.8m on sports during the month, down from $461.5m in May. Of this amount, $316.0m was spent betting on sports on mobile, with the remaining $2.8m bet at retail sportsbooks.

Players won $306.2m from sports betting in June, which resulted in $15.4m in revenue for licensed operators, down 721% from $55.2m in the previous month.

After accounting for $9.2m worth of free bets and promotional credits, taxable revenue for the month was $7.7m, a drop of 81.4% from $41.4m in May.

FanDuel once again led the way in terms of handle, taking a total of $106.3m in bets, some $104.0m of which were via mobile and $2.3m retail. DraftKings placed second with $92.8m in online bets, then BetMGM with $59.7 worth of online wagers.

Turning to gross revenue and FanDuel also claimed top spot with $7.4m in revenue, ahead of..

September 6, 2022

Sportingtech appoints Tommy Molloy as chief sportsbook officer

Online gaming technology supplier, Sportingtech, has tapped Tommy Molloy to be the business’ new chief sportsbook officer.

Molloy joins the company after a three-year stint as sportsbook and trading director at Pronet Gaming. Before this, he was head of sports trading at Tabcorp UK.

As CSO, Molloy will oversee the business’ sports betting offering, principally working on Sportingtech’s Quantum igaming platform.

Previously known as Pulse Platform, Sportingtech unveiled the rebranded and updated product in July 2021. Among other features, Quantum has a modular design, third-party integrations as well as a content management system.

Molloy’s appointment is the latest in a string of senior leadership changes in the last few months. It follows the nomination of Bobby Longhurst as the business’ new managing director, Colin McDonagh as chief sales officer and Daniel Stone as head of marketing.

In a statement, Sportingtech said that it is counting on Molloy’s expertise in expanding to ne..

September 6, 2022

BHA appoints former Downing Street spokesperson Swift to comms director role

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has announced the appointment of Greg Swift, formerly a spokesperson for the prime minister, as its director of communications and corporate affairs.

Scheduled to join the organisation at the end of October, Swift will lead the BHA’s recently restructured Communications and Corporate Affairs department, with Robin Mounsey to serve as interim director prior to his arrival.

The BHA said the new-look department forms part of a wider plan to reform its strategy and structures, with the aim of delivering a more strategic approach to communications and public affairs.

Swift is currently head of news and press secretary to the foreign secretary within the UK government, having previously been head of communications for the Department for Exiting the European Union and the prime minister’s official deputy spokesperson and head of news.

Prior to that, he spent time working in national newspapers, including as assistant editor for the Daily Express.

“..

September 5, 2022

Virginia betting handle falls for fourth consecutive month in July

The Virginia Lottery reported a month-on-month drop in player spending on sports betting for the fourth consecutive month in July, though revenue in the state improved significantly.

Handle for the month amounted to $266.0m (£231.5m/€268.2m), which was 9.9% lower than $295.2m in June this year but 64.2% higher than $161.9m in July of last year.

Adjusted gross gaming revenue, which is defined as total bets minus winnings, bonuses and promotions and other authorised deductions, jumped 64.6% month-on-month to $21.4m.

The Virginia Lottery also noted that this amount was 68.5% higher than $12.7m in the same month in 2022.

Consumers in the state won a total of $240.0m from sports betting during the month, while $396,903 worth of bonuses and promotions were issued to players and the Virginia Lottery also accounted for a further $4.2m in other deductions.

Increased adjusted gross gaming revenue meant the state was able to collect a total of $3.1m in tax from sports betting in July.

Of th..

September 5, 2022

Colorado sports betting handle continues to decline in July

Consumer spending on sports betting in Colorado fell for the fourth consecutive month in July, though the US state did report an increase in revenue.

Handle in July amounted to $258.4m (£224.8m/€260.5m), the lowest monthly total of the calendar year so far, and also 17.5% lower than $313.2m in June. However, the July total was 42.5% higher than $181.3m in the same month last year.

Of this total, $256.4m was spent betting on sports online, while the remaining $2.0m was wagered at retail sportsbooks across the state.

In terms of gross gaming revenue, this reached $20.8m, which was 205.9% higher than the $6.8m reported in June this year and also 32.5% higher than $15.7m in July 2021.

Online betting accounted for $14.2m of all revenue during the month, with retail reaching just $35,781.

Baseball was the most popular sports to bet on, drawing $110.6m in total wagers, ahead of tennis in $24.4m and basketball with $23.4m.

The state collected $1.1m in sports betting taxes during the mont..